An defense minister has stated that the Ministry of Defence is currently looking into the potential threats posed by Chinese-made vehicles, and staff have been advised to avoid talking about secret matters in all cars.
Security Advice for MoD Personnel
In a recently aired interview on a radio station, a defence minister addressed reports that MoD officials have been instructed not to talk about classified information while travelling in Chinese vehicles.
The minister explained that the ministry is “looking into” Chinese vehicles within its vehicle pools, but emphasised that safety is a issue in all modern vehicles.
We have a collection of tens of thousands of cars in the MoD and Chinese ones account for a very small number.
However regardless of if you’re driving a Chinese car or a car from another country, what we’ve asked our people is to avoid connecting Ministry of Defence technology into their car, to avoid having conversations at a secret classification in any kind of vehicle, due to the growing threats of eavesdropping that are present in all vehicle, to restrict those secret conversations in secure locations. This is a prudent and reasonable thing for anyone worried about security.
When it was put to him that it would be wise for the MoD to cease using every cars from China, the minister replied: That is exactly what we’re investigating at the moment.”
Wider Security Background
This announcement follows reports from Norway and Denmark have warned the United Kingdom to the presence of multi-purpose kill switches in Chinese-made electric buses, which could enable the Chinese government to disable buses and cause disruption to public transit.
Additionally, a Russia spy ship was reportedly shining laser beams at RAF pilots, described as a “highly dangerous” action by defence officials.
This wider security environment highlights the significance of robust measures and caution in every aspects of government activities, from vehicle use to communication habits.
